Union president asked for leniency for Grayson

The president of the union that represents deputies in the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office pleaded with a judge to be lenient in sentencing former deputy Sean Grayson for the murder of Sonya Massey.

Sangamon County Deputy Travis Koester was ultimately unsuccessful but told Circuit Judge Ryan Cadagin in a letter that Grayson, 31, deserved mercy because of a history of subpar professional training in the sheriff’s office and Grayson’s ongoing treatment for cancer.

“Over the years, I have witnessed firsthand how inadequate or inconsistent training, insufficient remedial instruction and a lack of meaningful mentorship can leave deputies ill-equipped to manage high-pressure situations appropriately,” wrote Koester, a deputy with more than 20 years of service.

Cadagin said Jan. 29 that he considered Koester’s letter along with other character reference letters from Grayson’s fiancée, his potential future mother-in-law and friends that were entered into the court record prior to sentencing. Cadagin then gave Grayson the maximum allowable sentence for the second-degree murder conviction handed down by a jury Oct. 29 – 20 years in prison.

Grayson could be released in 8½ years because of time already served and a potential 50% reduction in future time served for good behavior.

Sangamon County Board member Marc Ayers, a Springfield Democrat, told Illinois Times that Koester’s letter was “offensive to the Massey family” and “profoundly disturbing … almost making it appear that Grayson is a victim, and that is not the case.”

When shown Koester’s letter, Sheriff Paula Crouch said she agreed with the sentence Cadagin gave Grayson and was “taken aback” by Koester’s comments.

“I’m curious to how his membership reacts to that,” she said.

Koester, 42, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 55, told Illinois Times in a text message that he was speaking for himself in the letter and not for the union, of which Grayson was a member. Koester, who listed his union title in his letter, didn’t respond to a request for an interview.

Retired Sangamon County deputy David Timm is challenging Crouch in the March 17 Republican primary for sheriff and received Lodge 55’s endorsement over Crouch last summer. Timm said he agreed with Koester’s comments about the deterioration of professional training at the sheriff’s office in recent years but didn’t think Grayson deserved leniency.

“Sean Grayson should never see the light of day again, and I’m telling you that he shouldn’t because of what he did,” Timm said.

Koester wrote in his letter: “When agencies fail to reinforce de-escalation, critical decision-making and emotional regulation, deputies are placed in positions where errors become far more likely. Mr. Grayson was a product of such an environment, and those institutional shortcomings must be weighed alongside individual responsibility.”

Koester added: “Beyond these professional considerations, I ask the court to consider Mr. Grayson’s severe medical condition. His cancer diagnosis has imposed extraordinary physical pain, emotional distress and suffering. Serious illness has a way of stripping a person down to their most human state – marked by fear, vulnerability and reflection.”

One of Grayson’s attorneys, Mark Wykoff, has said Grayson was diagnosed in 2023 with stage 3 colon cancer, and that since then the cancer has spread to his liver and lungs. Wykoff said Grayson also has been diagnosed with rectal cancer.

Ayers said it’s disturbing that Koester asked for special consideration of Grayson’s health problems when Grayson disregarded Sonya Massey’s symptoms of mental illness before fatally shooting her on July 6, 2024.

Grayson and another deputy, who wasn’t charged, were summoned to the Woodside Township home of Massey, 36, a single mother of two teenagers, when Massey suspected a prowler in the neighborhood and called 911. Grayson, who is white, fatally shot the unarmed Black woman after an argument over a pot of hot water she picked up from her stove and was holding when she was shot.

The encounter was captured on police-worn camera video, and Massey’s death became part of the ongoing local and national discussion about Black victims of police brutality.

“She called for help and got a bullet to the head instead,” Ayers said.

Springfield resident Sontae Massey, 54, a cousin of Sonya Massey and a spokesperson for the Massey family, said he was “shocked and appalled” by Koester’s letter.

“We’ve had two years to deal with this and a lifetime of pain and loss that we will incur for a lifetime,” Sontae Massey said. “Sean Grayson’s actions that night were clearly seen and judged by a jury of his peers, and I don’t think the ravages of cancer and the pain that he’s going through can compare with the loss of life that Sonya incurred and the pain that has reverberated throughout this whole community. We will continue to pray for him and his family, but he has been judged.”

Crouch, 52, who retired from the Springfield Police Department before being appointed sheriff in September 2024 by the County Board, said she has increased training on de-escalation techniques and other aspects of police work and also improved the hiring process for deputies.

Critics of the sheriff’s office called for the resignation of former sheriff Jack Campbell, who hired Grayson in 2023. Campbell, a Republican, later decided to retire at age 60 in the middle of his four-year term.

Campbell denied allegations that Grayson’s family connections in the sheriff’s office prompted him to overlook Grayson’s prior ethical problems and other questionable conduct by Grayson when the former deputy worked at the Logan County Sheriff’s Office and other central Illinois police departments.

“Sean Grayson is the poster child for nepotism,” Ayers said. “He was woefully inadequate to be a deputy.”

Ayers said Koester’s defense of Grayson is more proof of a systemic problem in law enforcement. “They protect their own,” Ayers said.

Timm, 51, who said he established the sheriff’s office’s field-training program for deputies in 2019, said the program has “gone downhill since then” because of bad decisions by top officials in the office. Timm retired in January 2025.

Timm lost his job as a deputy in 2008 and then regained it in 2009 after an appeal by the Illinois FOP Labor Council overturned Timm’s firing by former sheriff Neil Williamson. The conduct cited by Williamson involved Timm trying to persuade a Leland Grove police officer to release a man being arrested for driving under the influence as part of “professional courtesy” between Timm and the Leland Grove officer.

Critics of the sheriff’s office have argued that professional courtesy came into play in the hiring of Grayson. Timm told Illinois Times on Feb. 9 that his view of professional courtesy between police officers has changed since 2008, and he no longer thinks it is proper.

“You can’t be a part of it,” Timm said. “I would not be involved in it ever again. It should not exist in law enforcement.”

Koester didn’t say in his letter whether he was affected personally by the “institutional failures” of training and mentorship in the sheriff’s office.

Sangamon County officials decided in 2024 to pay $45,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed against the county and Koester. The suit stemmed from Koester’s decision to detain and handcuff Billie W. Greer, a retired Illinois Department of Corrections administrator, in 2022.

Illinois Times previously reported that Greer’s lawsuit and an internal-affairs investigation indicated Koester cuffed Greer for driving on a suspended license, then threatened to take her to jail even after discovering her driver’s license was valid.

Legal work to defend Koester before the settlement was reached cost the county $20,447, county spokesperson Jeff Wilhite said. The county didn’t admit liability or wrongdoing in the settlement.

Koester wouldn’t comment on that settlement or on other court cases or disciplinary actions to which he was connected. Illinois Times previously reported that Koester “has a history of internal-affairs complaints and lawsuits.”

The county in 2015 paid $150,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a woman whom Koester tased after pulling her companion over on suspicion of driving under the influence. Koester and the county prevailed in three other federal lawsuits against the deputy and the county that alleged excessive force.